Privacy fears spark push for smart glasses pool ban

A Hunter council will consider banning camera-equipped smart glasses from council pools, libraries and other community facilities, after residents raised concerns about children being secretly filmed.

Port Stephens councillor Giacomo Arnott will raise a motion at the next ordinary council meeting, asking the general manager to draft a policy banning the wearable devices from all council-owned community buildings.

There would be an exemption for people who can produce a medical certificate showing the glasses are needed for a genuine disability, such as low vision or hearing impairment.

The motion would also introduce a broader "standard position" requiring anyone using a phone, or other personal device, to photograph or film others in council facilities, to get their consent first, with parental consent needed for anyone under 18.

Personal devices would be banned outright in open-air change rooms, such as those at council pools, with staff empowered to warn and then remove patrons who breached the rule.

Cr Arnott said he did not have a broad objection to wearable devices with built-in cameras, but that locals expected their privacy and safety to be "proactively considered and managed" when using council facilities.

"At next week's council meeting, we will consider whether to ask staff to develop a policy which will ban these devices from our council facilities, with some limited exemptions where the devices are being used for a genuine medical purpose," he said.

"Brisbane City Council in Queensland and Yarra City Council in Victoria have recently dealt with this issue, and part of the motion is to seek a region-wide approach to dealing with wearable cameras in council facilities so that no matter where you go in the Hunter, the rules will be consistent."

The motion asks the general manager to write to every council in the Hunter Joint Organisation, encouraging them to adopt similar rules so that someone barred from using the devices in Port Stephens "are unable to travel a short distance to another LGA and continue their activities."

Cr Arnott's motion follows bans that have restricted camera-enabled wearables at pools, playgrounds and gyms in response to the growing affordability of smart glasses.

A background report to the motion warns any policy will need further legal advice on its enforceability, along with practical work on signage and training for staff, contractors and volunteers.

The report notes that while NSW surveillance laws restrict the use of listening and optical devices to record private activities or conversations without consent, public spaces carry fewer legal protections, meaning a council-level ban on wearing the devices, rather than simply on non-consensual filming, would go further than existing state law.

It also flags a warning from legal experts and the eSafety Commissioner that blanket bans on smart glasses risk breaching disability discrimination law, given many of the devices provide vision, hearing or captioning support.

Council staff say the policy work does not sit within any existing work plan and would need to be resourced from within existing budgets if councillors support the motion.